Station-indicator



(No Model.)

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. R.. G. HOURTNEY. STATION INDICATOR.

No. 476,537. Patented June '7, 1892.

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rrEn STATES PATENT OEEICE.

RUDOLPH G. HOURTNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STATION-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,537, dated June '7,1892.

Application tiled March 17, 1890. Serial No. 344,129. (No model.)

To all 1072/077@ zit may concern:

Beit known that I, RUDOLPH G. HOURTNEY,

acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usetul Improvementsin Operating Mechanism for Street and Station Indicators, of which thefollowing' is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide for automatically operatingau indicator mechanism ior cars, and it is particularly adapted for usewith the cable and elevated railways.

In carrying out the invention I provide the car with a rocking arm orleveror equivalent projection adapted to engage a stationary trippingdevice located beneath the carin the conduit of a cable railway or uponthe roadbed of a surface road or upon the sills orties of an elevatedroadway near the crossing and connect with said projection from the cara cable leading to the operating-leverot the indicator device within thecar, whereby when the carin its progress reaches the tripping projectionthe indicator will be operated and by the usual appliances a sheet orplacard will be presented to the view of the passengers bearing thereonthe name of a street.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the bodyof a cable railway-car and a longitudinal section through the axles andconduit, taken in the plane of the slot and showing my improvedoperating mechanism applied. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the conduitand track-rails, showing the tripping projections in end elevation. Fig.3 is a sectional plan View showing the head of the slot-irons out awayand the tripping projections applied to the inner sides of said ironsand showing in section the lower end of a lever connected with the carand which is adapted to be operated by the trip. Fig. al is a plan viewshowing a bell-crank rocking lever with a cable and spring appliedthereto and a portion of a bar used for supporting the lever. Fig. 5 isa perspective view of the bell-crank lever, showing a bent end thereofwhich is engaged by the tripping projections; and Fig. G is a detailplan view of one ofthe axles and showing the means for connecting oneend of the supporting-bar thereto.

In the construction shown in Fig. l, A rep resents a car of Vusualconstruction and having an indicator B, also of usual construction,therein. These indicators as now generally nsed'have a series of sheetssecured at one of their margins with link belts passed around rollers orto the periphery of a revolving drum operated, in some instances, by aratchet and pawl manipulated with a cord or lever by the conductor ordriver and in other instances by means of a positive gearing from thecaraxle.

My invention has to do only with applying automatically a force to theindicator to move its parts and is well adapted to the manipulation ofan indicator having a ratchet-andpawl mechanism and operating-lever,either sliding or pivoted.

C O represent the car-axles, and, as shown in the drawings, I support myoperating mechanism upon said axles by means of a bar D, loosely securedto one of said axles by the clip E, as in Figs. l and 6. The oppositeend of this bar rests on the other axle, and jourvnaled in said bar isan arm F, having the bellcrank members ff at one end thereof and a bentendF,wl1icl1is adapted to projectinto the conduit, or rather between theZ-rails forming the slot. To the armfI connect one end of the cable G,the other end of which Willbe carried around a sheave, as g, at the endof the car, and thence conducted upwardly and connected to anoperating-lever of the indicator B. In order to guard the lower end ofthe lever F,I provide the plate H, which may be apertured for thepassage 'of the lever and have a strengthening-plate I'I thereon. Thisguard-plate will travel edgewise in the slot, and its lower end may beapertured, as at H', to permit the free movement of the bent end F ofthe lever F.

The indicator mechanism is usually provided with a spring or weight, sothat after it has been once operated it will be set for furtheroperation by the action of the spring or weight, and hence no additionalmechanism need be provided for turning the lever F to operativeposition, and the parts will be so set when in use that the bent end Fwill project at right angles to the slot. Secured in position to engagethe bent end of the lever F are trip- ICO ping projections which will belocated along the line of travel near to street-intersections, and inthe present instance these tripping devices are leaf-springs I, whoseends are secured by the screws t' with the slot-rails J. In the formshown in the dra-wings these springs will yield to the passage ot' thegripshank; but-when the bent end F of the lever F comes in contact witheither the one or the other of them the lever F will be rocked and itsbell-crank membersff will be turned in the position indicated by thedotted lines, Fig. 4, and a pull on the cable will result, thuseffecting the operation of the indicator, the movement of the opperatingparts ot which will return the bell-crank lever to its originalposition, and thus put it in position to be engaged by the next trip.

1n some cases cable-railway ears are transferred to horse-car lines, andto provide for the lifting of thelower end of the-lever F out of theslot I connect the bell-crank member f by a spring O with thesupporting-bar D. The free end of this bar projects beyond the axle ofthe ear and is there pivotally connected with a pivoted arm or lever K,whose forward end is connected t0 an operating-arm L. The arm L slidesin a keeper Z, secured on the dash-board of the car, and the lever K ispreferably pivotally con nected with a support t. When the cable isdisconnected from the indicator, the resiliency of the spring O willturn the bent end F of the lever F in a position to be lifted out of theslot, and then bya downward thrust on the arm L the lever K will berocked on its pivot and will lift the free end of the supporting-bar D,and with it the lever F, so as to raise the bent end of the latter outof the slot.

It will be understood that the construction hereinbefore described isintended to be illustrated only and that changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof my invention. The tripping projections may be located toward thebottom ot' the conduit, instead of on the sides of the slot-rails, andonly one projection need be employed, unless the cars are to be turnedat the end of the track. Instead of the bell-crank-lever arrangement,the pull on the operating-cable may be eieeted by other and equivalentmeans, such as a pivoted lever, having one ot its ends connected withsaid cable and the other end adapted to engage the tripping projection.The size and proportion of parts may be varied, and it may be foundnecessary to make the bell-crank members of the operating-lever longer,so as to give a greater sweep of movement and to provide for differencesof gearing i-n the indicater.

I claiml. The combination, with a car having a Street or stationindicator mechanism therein and a cable connected with the operativemeehanism, of the indicator conducted beneath the car and having itsother end secured with a crank-operating lever, said lever verticallypositioned and adapted to rock in its bearings and having an end thereofprojected to pass into the slot of a cable railway, and a yieldingtripping projection secured in the conduit, substantially as described.

2. A means for operating indicators on ca ble railways, comprising, incombination with an indicator mechanism located in the car, a cableconnected with the operative mechanism of the indicator conductedbeneath the car and having its other end secured with anoperating-lever, said lever being vertically positioned and adapted torock in its bearings, and a guard-plate projected from the car into theslot and adapted to shield the operatinglever, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of a car,a depending pivoted trip-rod, an obstructingdevice in the path of the trip-rod, means for moving the trip-rod atwill out of the plane ofthe obstructing device while the car is inmotion without disturbing or changing the indicators, street or stationindicators adapted to be changed to display names, and a connectionbetween the trip-rod and the street or station indicators to eiect theirchange as the trip-rod is swung, substantially as described.

4. A means for operatinga street or station indicator, comprising, incombination, a supportingbar having an end thereof pivotally connectedwith one of the axles and its opposite end projected to bear upon theother axle, and means under the controlot the driver for rocking saidlever on its pivot whereby to elevate the supporting-bar, a crank-leververtically positioned and adapted to rock inl a bearing on thesupporting-bar,a cable conneetin g the crank member with the operatingmechanism of the car, and the bent end of said crank-lever projecting toengage the tripping device located along the line ot" way, substantiallyas described.

5. In means for operating street or station indicators, the combinationof a rocking bellcrank lever having one member connected by a tiexiblemedium with the operating mechanism of an indicator and having a bentend thereof projected through a slot in the track to engage a trippingprojection located below said slot, and a spring adapted to turn saidrocking lever, so as to permit the bent end thereof to be removed fromthe slot, substantially as described.

RUDOLPH G. HOURTNEY.

Titnessesz FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, N. M. BOND.

TOO

IIO

